Aircraft landing gear is known in which a bottom portion possesses a steering actuator to enable the wheel(s) carried by the landing gear to be steered. In general, the landing gear has a shaft that can be turned relative to a stationary portion of the landing gear that is connected to the airframe of the aircraft. The turnable shaft is connected to the wheel(s) of the landing gear and is secured to a toothed wheel. Turning the toothed wheel enables the turnable shaft to be steered together with the aircraft wheels to which it is connected. The toothed wheel co-operates with a rack that is guided in translation by pistons coupled to the ends of the rack. For this purpose, each of the pistons is slidably mounted in a cylinder that is associated therewith.
In summary, the wheel(s) of the landing gear is/are steered under the control of a steering actuator having pistons that guide a rack to move in translation, which rack drives a toothed wheel secured to the turnable shaft that is in turn connected to the wheel(s) of the landing gear.
By way of example, mention may be made of patent document FR 2 568 218, which describes nose landing gear provided with such a rack actuator.
It has been observed that the teeth of the toothed wheel and/or the teeth of the rack suffer from premature wear.